NOW Yo'av the son of Tseruyah perceived that the king's heart was toward Avshalom.
And Yo'av sent to Teqo'ah, and fetched thence a wise woman, and said unto her, I pray you, feign yourself to be a mourner, and put on now mourning apparel, and anoint not yourself with oil, but be as a woman that had a long time mourned for the dead:
And come to the king, and speak on this manner unto him. So Yo'av put the words in her mouth.
And when the woman, a Teqo'iy, spoke to the king, she fell on her face to the ground, and did obeisance, and said, Help, O king.
And the king said unto her, What ails you? And she answered, I am indeed a widow woman, and my man is dead.
And your handmaid had two sons, and they two strove together in the field, and there was none to part them, but the one smote the other, and slew him.
And, behold, the whole family is risen against your handmaid, and they said, Deliver him that smote his brother, that we may kill him, for the life of his brother whom he slew; and we will destroy the heir also: and so they shall quench my coal which is left, and shall not leave to my man neither name nor remainder upon the earth.
And the king said unto the woman, Go to your house, and I will give charge concerning you.
And the woman, a Teqo'iy, said unto the king, My adoniy, O king, the iniquity be on me, and on my father's house: and the king and his throne be guiltless.
And the king said, Whosoever says ought unto you, bring him to me, and he shall not touch you anymore.
Then said she, I pray you, let the king remember Yahuah Elohayka, that you would not suffer the revengers of blood to destroy anymore, lest they destroy my son. And he said, As Yahuah lives, there shall not one hair of your son fall to the earth.
Then the woman said, Let your handmaid, I pray you, speak one word unto my el-adoniy the king. And he said, Say on.
And the woman said, Wherefore then have you thought such a thing against the people of Elohiym? for the king speaks this thing as one which is faulty, in that the king does not fetch home again his banished.
For we must needs die, and are as water spilt on the ground, which cannot be gathered up again; neither does Elohiym respect any person: yet he devises means, that his banished be not expelled from him.
Now therefore that I am come to speak of this thing unto my adoniy the king, it is because the people have made me afraid: and your handmaid said, I will now speak unto the king; it may be that the king will perform the request of his handmaid.
For the king will hear, to deliver his handmaid out of the hand of the man that would destroy me and my son together out of the inheritance of Elohiym.
Then your handmaid said, The word of my adoniy the king shall now be comfortable: for as an angel of Elohiym, so is my adoniy the king to discern good and bad: therefore Yahuah Elohayka will be with you.
Then the king answered and said unto the woman, Hide not from me, I pray you, the thing that I shall ask you. And the woman said, Let my adoniy the king now speak.
And the king said, Is not the hand of Yo'av with you in all this? And the woman answered and said, As your soul lives, my adoniy the king, none can turn to the right hand or to the left from ought that my adoniy the king has spoken: for your servant Yo'av, he bade me, and he put את all these words in the mouth of your handmaid:
To fetch about this form of speech has your servant Yo'av done this thing: and my adoniy is wise, according to the wisdom of an angel of Elohiym, to know all things that are in the earth.
And the king said unto Yo'av, Behold now, I have done this thing: go therefore, bring the young man Avshalom again.
And Yo'av fell to the ground on his face, and bowed himself, and thanked the king: and Yo'av said, Today your servant knows that I have found grace in your sight, my adoniy, O king, in that the king has fulfilled the request of his servant.
So Yo'av arose and went to Geshur, and brought Avshalom to Yerushalayim.
And the king said, Let him turn to his own house, and let him not see my face. So Avshalom returned to his own house, and saw not the king's face.
But in all Yashar'el there was none to be so much praised as Avshalom for his beauty: from the sole of his foot even to the crown of his head there was no blemish in him.
And when he polled his head, (for it was at every year's end that he polled it: because the hair was heavy on him, therefore he polled it:) he weighed the hair of his head at two hundred sheqels after the king's weight.
And unto Avshalom there were born three sons, and one daughter, whose name was Tamar: she was a woman of a fair countenance.
So Avshalom dwelt two full years in Yerushalayim, and saw not the king's face.
Therefore Avshalom sent for Yo'av, to have sent him to the king; but he would not come to him: and when he sent again the second time, he would not come.
Therefore he said unto his servants, See, Yo'av's field is near mine, and he has barley there; go and set it on fire. And Avshalom's servants set the field on fire.
Then Yo'av arose, and came to Avshalom unto his house, and said unto him, Wherefore have your servants set my field on fire?
And Avshalom answered Yo'av, Behold, I sent unto you, saying, Come hither, that I may send you to the king, to say, Wherefore am I come from Geshur? it had been good for me to have been there still: now therefore let me see the king's face; and if there be any iniquity in me, let him kill me.
So Yo'av came to the king, and told him: and when he had called for Avshalom, he came to the king, and bowed himself on his face to the ground before the king: and the king kissed Avshalom.